


intro, Ariel

by crossbelladonna



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Supernatural Elements, faerie oiks!!, prince eric Daichi, stranded merman Suga
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-29 15:53:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7690600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crossbelladonna/pseuds/crossbelladonna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Daichi, look what you did!” Asahi fusses.<br/>“What is it that I did?!” Daichi exclaims.<br/>Asahi doesn’t seem to know either.<br/>“Maybe he doesn’t want to be bothered…?”<br/>The merman sniffs and wipes his tears on his collar. His eyes are already red-rimmed, lips drooping with emotion.<br/>“It’s just that,” he sniffs. “you’re the first one who offered.”</p><p>-</p><p>Enter, Sugawara Koushi the stranded merman in the quadrangle and his savior.</p>
            </blockquote>





	intro, Ariel

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [序章：愛麗兒](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14231406) by [Yiyun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yiyun/pseuds/Yiyun)



> HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY KIRA (@simple-symphonia)!!! you're 2nd grandma now sorry no takebacks  
> i know i didnt actually get to post this on your actual birthday...im sorr--  
> thank you for all those Memes and those Bonding Over Angst moments with Hina (who beta'd this thank you @asterbells!!!) tho you spend most of it holding up a stop sign RIP thanks for betaing my fics and listening to my Weird Episodes it's been such a great year being your friend + Hina and hopefully more of it in the future!!! you guys give me something to look forward to every day :')  
> hope you enjoy....your mermaid suga and uni student daichis cackles...
> 
> edit: (8/9/16) there's [art](http://artsytigersol12.tumblr.com/post/148665539250/fic-for-crossbelladonna-on-ao3-intro-ariel) for this now!!! thank you very much! ^^  
> update (04/07/18) we have a [chinese translation](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14231406) now folks! many thanks to Yiyun!

The grass is wet from where Sugawara is currently lying on in abject horror, having slipped on a water balloon projectile earlier and he’s got no doubt in his mind he’s going to be scrubbing off mud on his shirt sometime in his near future.

Still, he doesn’t make a move to stand, the horror still sinking in and he stares up at the blue, cloudless sky, the sun taunting him happily as though a direct insult to his pride as he’s lying down there in a small puddle of muddy, grassy water, his book bag probably somewhere around his head.

The clock is ticking and he’s about to be late for class for the third time this week because of the stupid freshmen pranksters loitering around the campus, armed with their “harmless pranks” in the form of a case full of water balloons ready to be aimed right at him the moment he crosses the quad for class. He no longer hears the snickers of the jerks who perpetuated this however, a small comfort. Had he did, he’d be flailing right where he was lying down, like a fish out of water.

Quite literally at the moment.

 _Fuck_ , Sugawara tells himself morosely. _I’m just a simple college student…just want to go to class and learn and_ not _be late._

Then the little shits knew about him and decided he was fun to mess with. Fantastic.

Sugawara is starting to feel gross and icky laying there so he tries sitting up on his elbows, and finds the mild inconvenience of his bony, webbed elbow fins growing back, the royal blue scales on them gleaming in the sunlight. Sugawara makes a little noise of despair, wanting to lay right back down on the mud and let the earth consume him, but doesn’t let it stop him from facing the truth laid right in front of him.

A truth weighing nearly twice his body weight, gleaming blue and purple in the sunlight too, is his tail curving slightly inward towards him, having fallen with his legs in this position. His caudal fin looks almost feathery and light with their ruffles and curls looking very unlike how a monofin looks like, though the fins on his side and back are as bony as his elbows but he can make them pliant to touch.

Needless to say, Sugawara lets out a petulant huff, pushing his tail straight back so that water splashes a few feet away from him, as though tantrums will make his situation any better. Trust those freshmen jerks to start throwing water balloons at the nearest merman so he’ll be late for class.  Just stupendous.

Sugawara sees his book bag behind him and scoots back on his butt to retrieve it, grumbling the entire short way. He can’t move much like this; his tail pins him there heavily though he tries pushing on his tail to haul him back.

First: he has to wait an entire hour for it to wear off so he can use his legs again.

Second: he destroys his pants every time this happens unwarranted and he just can’t afford to lose all his pants this way.

Sugawara screeches inwardly when he clutches his bag, remembering his brutal professor in Abnormal Psychology and how he’s going to have to explain the inconveniences of being half-fish, half-human the third time this week.

In the pathway near him, Sugawara sees people pass and glance at him before moving on. Perhaps seeing stranded mermen in the quad is a mainstream thing. Perhaps they too were late for class. Perhaps they just didn’t care.

Well, two can play that game. Sugawara lies back down again.

 

“Daichi, you can’t actually be considering skipping classes it’s going to look bad in your record what if you go job hunting and they’ll look into your record and—”

Daichi sighs, a little exasperated by the giant worrywart right next to him as they walk the path towards the Sciences building. He has no intention of walking into his Chemistry class today however; he plans to go straight to the Biology lab to finish his report that’s to be submitted later this day. Skipping a class to catch up with another class is one of the joys of university, Daichi finds bitterly.

“I _really_ need to finish my Bio report okay I can’t fail Bio.” Daichi tells Asahi conversationally.

Unlike him, Asahi fully intends to go to Chemistry class with fervor. How he manages to finish his reports on top of new ones baffle Daichi endlessly but he can’t have everything. Asahi’s scowling at him worriedly, having been convincing Daichi not to skip, even taking out his Chemistry book for emphasis.

“W-Why didn’t you do it last night…?” Asahi points out for the fifth time in this conversation alone.

“Look, hear me out—History essay.”

“Ah…,”

“Ten thousand words.”

“I see,”

“Yeah. You can’t get ten thousand words out of me in one sitting, that’s insane, who do they think we are? So that’s why it took me three days to finish it, completely neglecting my Biology report and—Asahi, are you listening to me?”

Asahi seems to be looking towards the quadrangle, obviously having drifted away from the conversation distractedly. He looks pretty stumped and Daichi follows his gaze, quizzical. He instantly sees why.

There’s a rather peeved merman on the quadrangle, flapping his tail in aggravation. He looks drenched, surrounded by a small puddle of water and is grumbling aloud to himself. There’s a book bag right next to him and Daichi assumes he’s a student here too, probably got held up when he got his tail there.

“Is that a merman?” Daichi tilts his head, incredulous.

“Yeah,” Asahi says. “he looks stranded.”

With the way the merman is grumbling, he definitely is. He flaps his tail again, splashing muddy water and Daichi watches the blue and purple scales gleam in the sunlight with interest. The merman’s tail is long and bulky but looks pretty strong, without doubt enough to knock down three people with one whip of it if he were serious.

His tail fin looks like a fan of billowing feathers though the fins on his sides look sharper. Could still probably kill a man.

“I heard there are new faerie students who are pranking merfolk in inconvenient places,” Asahi mentions.

Daichi makes a face. Land faeries have always had this rivalry going on with the merfolk, since they’re technically water faeries themselves. Why they have to fight pettily like this is beyond Daichi.

“Well no wonder he’s pissed,” Daichi gestures to the merman who’s now making hissy noises at himself. The merman sits up and Daichi sees a crown of gray hair. With it is a big frown and Daichi bites back an amused smile.

“I’m going to try and see if he needs help moving, it seems so.” Daichi tells Asahi, glancing at him briefly before he starts to go.

“Eh? Wait—Daichi—”

Daichi walks on, stopping when there’s an appropriate distance with him and the merman, just in case he’s in a bad mood enough to take a whip at him. He hears Asahi come up behind him though he doesn’t say anything to intervene, merely looking on curiously.

“Um,” Daichi starts. “excuse me?”

The merman turns his gaze towards him, though he’s looking more sad than pissed. His tail looks even prettier this close and he folds it towards him. He has a beautiful face, eyes a very clear hazel and there’s a mole underneath his left eye. He’s wearing a green button up though the sleeves are ripped at the elbows because of his fins and fairly muddy because of the puddle.

“Do you need help moving?” Daichi asks him.

The merman looks at him in surprise and Daichi wonders if he’s thinking Daichi’s crazy for asking or if he’s just crazy in general. Probably both.

But then he’s caught by astonishment when the merman suddenly bursts out crying, burying his face in his hands.

“I-I’m sorry I just wanted to help!” Daichi tells him in a panic, waving his hands non-threateningly.

“Daichi, look what you did!” Asahi fusses.

“What is it that I did?!” Daichi exclaims.

Asahi doesn’t seem to know either.

“Maybe he doesn’t want to be bothered…?”

The merman sniffs and wipes his tears on his collar. His eyes are already red-rimmed, lips drooping with emotion.

“It’s just that,” he sniffs. “you’re the first one who offered.” He sounds very morose.

Daichi feels an immediate stab of sympathy. They say merfolk can evoke that feeling easily but he can’t help it.

The merman sniffs again. “It’s because of those—”—his eyes momentarily flash with brief anger, hands clenching—“— _freshmen._ ”

“They’re probably those new faeries.” Asahi tells him. “They sure pick on you folk a lot don’t they? I know someone who got stuck at the dorm lounge when he was smacked with a water balloon.”

Daichi laughs inwardly. That was last week with Ushijima. He was studying in the lounge when someone decided to smack him right on the face with a water balloon and he didn’t even bother to look up when it hit him. He’d politely asked people to steer away from the lounge however, his enormous burgundy tail taking up a considerable amount of space, and asked them to wait until it wore off.

“Faeries huh,” the merman says emotionally. “they’re still shitty.”

“Do you have to be somewhere?” Daichi asks.

“Oh yes,” a sad smile. “but I’m already late for that class by now what’s even the point?”

Daichi raises an eyebrow. “Oh? What’s your class?”

“Abnormal Psychology.”

“That’s in the Sciences building too, isn’t it?” Asahi says. “We were just heading there.”

“Yeah!” Daichi says and with a sudden burst of inspiration, adds, “I can carry you to class if you’re okay with it.”

Being offered to be carried to class by a stranger seems to overwhelm the merman momentarily that his eyes widen before he actually starts considering it.

Then he laughs in amusement, shaking his head.

“You can’t possibly do that! I’m too heavy!” He smiles gratefully though. “Besides they’re probably twenty minutes in.”

Daichi nods slowly. “But…say if I could do it will you agree?”

The merman’s cheeks turn faintly pink, shy. He fans his fins lazily.

“Well, I’m not mad at it.”

Daichi grins then, rolling his sleeves determinedly. The Psychology classrooms are just right up ahead the Biology labs. If he’s going to skip class might as well include doing something altruistic.

“Don’t worry about it,” Daichi says, asking permission to get closer and he crouches down to the merman’s eye level when he gets it.

“Actually, I’m skipping Chemistry to finish my Biology report so I’m just heading to the lab—that’s pretty close to your room isn’t it? The joys of university.” That earns him a laugh and he continues, “I’m SawamuraDaichi, just call me Daichi. I’m a Biology major.”

Daichi gestures to Asahi. “That’s Asahi. He doesn’t want to skip class.”

“Hey now—”

“I’m Sugawara Koushi,” the merman says, smiling wide. “You can call me Suga.”

Daichi nods, grinning. “Right, Suga. Let’s get you to class. Sorry there’s no other way to this but being hands-on.”

Sugawara laughs again. It’s a comforting sound, like a sudden splash in a stream.

“You’ve been warned, Sawamura-kun.”

“Just Daichi. I told you I’ll help, didn’t I? Asahi could you get his book bag?”

Sugawara looks extremely fascinated with this turn of events.

“Just one thing,” Daichi says, gesturing to Sugawara’s fins. “those look a little sharp.”

“Oh,” Sugawara smoothes his hands over them, right on the sides of his tail and on his elbows. “I can make them blunt.” He says, eyes twinkling.

Daichi goes silent in awe, not helping it. He’s a Biology major after all, everything is fascinating. His jaw probably dropped at some point. Hopefully not.

“That’s—that’s so cool,” he says though.

Sugawara’s lips twitches in amusement.

“Not so much when I’m stranded on the quad,” he quips.

“Stop by the lab first,” Asahi suggests kindly. “You can’t go to class with your muddy shirt.”

Daichi brightens. “Oh, yeah, that’s right!” To Sugawara he goes, “Don’t worry; the lab is just really close to the rooms and I’ll get you there really quick.”

Sugawara looks like he’s about to cry again but he nods, bashful.

“Okay.”

 

Sugawara chuckles on purpose when Daichi finally manages to life lift him up in his arms, amazed he could actually do the task.

“ _Oof_ ,” Daichi says dramatically, grinning to himself.

Sugawara wasn’t joking about the weight. His tail practically makes the majority of it. He’s still pretty damp from all the water that strangely smells briny. Daichi can feel the soft scales of Sugawara’s tail tug on his skin, feels the dorsal fin underneath that’s no longer sharp like Sugawara told him. His tail is slightly slippery like, well, a fish, but it’s not uncomfortable.

Sugawara doesn’t seem deterred by Daichi’s comment, still in the throes of delight. He has his hands folded over his lap, grinning.

“I told you so,” Sugawara says smugly.

“You did,” Daichi replies gamely. “now let’s get you to class!”

 

“I have a slightly—I don’t know if it’s personal—question,” Daichi asks as they’re treading the path to the rooms. Asahi is following them, making sure Sugawara’s tail doesn’t hit any posts.

“You’re a very inquiring man, Sawamura-san but I’ll let you off since you’re literally carrying me to class,” Sugawara flutters his eyelashes, amused.

“Just Daichi, really. Do you really smell like the sea…?”

“Ah,” Sugawara snorts, sounding matter-of-factly as he raises a finger. “Well, you know that fishing dock downtown?” Daichi nods and Sugawara continues, “Those mean faeries get water from there for the water balloons. We only become like this when in contact with seawater.”

Daichi nods slowly, mesmerized once more.

“You should dodge next time,” he suggests jokingly and Sugawara fans his fins.

“Land dwellers are so naïve,” Sugawara winks.

 

Asahi leaves them when they make it to the laboratory.

(“I don’t want to miss class,” Asahi insisted, having not forgotten his original goal as Daichi walked around the lab, looking for spare clothes for Sugawara after he set him down.

Sugawara sat daintily on one of the stools, his tail laid on four more.

“You should aspire to be more like your friend, Daichi,” he joked.

Daichi scoffed, half inside the supply closet.

“He wishes.”)

Once he left, the laboratory becomes silent save for Daichi’s hurried footsteps and the soft stream of bubbles from the three large aquarium tanks that have been set up on three equally large tables. Pacific blue tang fishes are swimming inside and Sugawara watches them with curiosity wanting to go up to one of the tanks and watch them closer.

“Here you go, I think this’ll fit you,” Daichi walks up to him, handing Sugawara a t-shirt, slacks and a lab coat.

“What’s the coat for?” Sugawara asks and Daichi inches away so he could change.

“Er, you might get cold,” Daichi says hurriedly. The lab coat isn’t actually thick enough and it probably won’t help much but better that than nothing anyway.

He watches Sugawara’s head pop out of the head hole of his shirt—it’s a little loose on him it turns out but, whatever—and he’s smiling wide.

“Thanks, Daichi,” he says.

“Sure, no problem. I did offer, you know.”

Sugawara nods. He eyes the fish again.

“What are they here for?”

Daichi smiles kindly. “They’re quarantined. Under observation because they might be sick. They’re from the Sea Life Park, actually.”

Sugawara’s lips tug into a smile, still staring now with fondness. Daichi wonders again and out of curiosity he asks, “Can you talk to them?” before he could stop himself.

Sugawara laughs softly. “If I were born at sea, perhaps I could but I wasn’t. They’re just very faint though.”

“I hope they don’t think I’m lame.”

“If I were them,” Sugawara chuckles. “I wouldn’t think so.”

 

Racing to class with a merman in your arms should be an Olympic sport—the intensity is real. He’s gotten used to the weight though the slippery texture of Sugawara’s tail is a slight inconvenience. Daichi’s not about to complain though; he keeps his promises.

It’s not really helping his concentration much that Sugawara’s looking at him with such honest look of admiration as he clutches his book bag.

Daichi practically kicks the classroom back door open.

“HERE!” he shouts reflexively, forgetting where he is and almost drops Sugawara in embarrassment when he remembers, especially seeing that he’s interrupted class mid-discussion.

Immediately, all eyes land on them and Daichi freezes mid-proclamation. In his arms, Sugawara starts chortling into his book bag.

The professor, a senior-aged lady, stops speaking, blinks at them in confusion, pointer half-raised.

“Er,” Daichi says.

“It’s me!” Sugawara interjects loudly, raising his hand. His ruffled tail also rises up. “I’m sorry I’m late!”

The professor looks at him in recognition, probably because of his repeated tardiness and she looks pretty miffed as her eyes land on the shimmery blue tail.

“Sugawara-kun,” she acknowledges.

Sugawara puts his hands together and the class hums with laughter.

“Sorry!” Sugawara pleads again though he’s smiling behind his hands.

The professor looks unimpressed. “Take your seat.”

Daichi meets Sugawara’s gaze and Sugawara shrugs, still grinning. He points where he wants to be seated.

“The back seat over there will be fine, Daichi, thank you! That empty seat beside that someone with silver hair?”

Daichi walks as he directs, trying to keep a low profile as the professor continues discussing.

 Sugawara has lowered his voice too. “Yep that one he’s my friend— _oh!_ ”

Daichi almost repeats Sugawara’s exclamation when he’s ambled towards Sugawara’s silver-haired friend and sees his company.

“Hi Lev!” Sugawara greets his friend who smiles brightly. “Hi Yaku!” There’s a hint of laughter in Sugawara’s voice as he regards Lev’s caramel-haired companion.

“You too, huh?” Sugawara remarks in amusement.

Daichi can see why. Yaku—looking pretty grumpy at the moment—has his peach-colored tail, slightly smaller than Sugawara’s own, laid on top of Lev’s lap.

Lev smiles with innocent obliviousness.

“Yaku-san got _whacked_ by a water balloon right on his _small_ face—!”

Yaku hops up in indignation and smacks Lev right on the chest with a soft tail fin.

“Say that again,” he threatens.

“Ah, Yaku-san I was only telling…”

Sugawara points to the empty space next to them and smiles at Daichi.

“I’ll be fine here, Daichi so you can go ahead with your report.”

Daichi nods. “Are you sure you’ll be alright transforming back? Your spare clothes are in your bag right?”

Sugawara laughs. “Yes, I’m sure.”

Daichi sets him down in a comfortable position and Sugawara salutes at him humorously, making Daichi laugh.

“Yeah, take care.” Daichi says, stepping back and he’s starting to move away when he feels Sugawara touch his arm.

When Daichi turns back at him in wonder, Sugawara isn’t looking at him, waving his tail underneath his desk, looking suddenly bashful.

“Daichi, thank you very much.”

Daichi smiles. “My pleasure.”

 

+

 

Sugawara left his muddy button-up in the lab by accident, Daichi finds out.

He sees it when he gets back to the lab, at the foot of the stool Sugawara had been sitting on and he lifts it up in inspection. He sees the torn sleeves and smiles to himself.

“I better clean it,” he says aloud, eyeing the fishes in the tank and wonders if they heard him.

_I wonder if I could see him again._

He should’ve asked where else he could find him again—he even fixed Sugawara’s sleeves and all, trusting what meager sewing skills he has.

“Whose shirt is that?” Asahi wants to know.

They’re in the dorm lounge studying, or at least trying to believe they are, their notes and handouts open on the table though they’ve only been turned once or twice.

Asahi has his laptop open by his side, a PowerPoint on the screen he’s reviewing. On his other side is Ushijima, who hasn’t looked up at them from the book he’s currently reading for the last half an hour. He’s been sitting straight in that tight posture he favors and it makes Daichi self-conscious as he compares it to his ceaseless slouching. It’s a wonder Ushijima’s back hasn’t started hurting yet.

Across them on another couch is Daichi who’s twirling a pen in his hand, Sugawara’s shirt on the other. He has it in a small, clear plastic bag for safekeeping, wondering how he’ll return it.

“It’s Sugawara’s shirt—you remember Suga from three days ago?” Daichi says. He sounds pathetically like a jilted lover.

Ushijima finally looks up from his book when he hears the name like he knows who it is though he doesn’t say anything. Probably a merfolk thing.

“Oh, Suga,” Asahi says. “Why is his shirt still with you?”

“He left it.” Daichi says.

“I know Sugawara Koushi,” Ushijima finally speaks, confirming Daichi’s initial merfolk theory.

Daichi sighs. “I don’t know where I can see him again.”

“He’s close friends with Oikawa Tooru,” Ushijima says the name with what sounds like pity and Daichi could almost smell drama brewing.

“Who’s friends with Oikawa?” Another voice steps in and the three of them look up and sees Iwaizumi standing there right next to them with a quizzical expression. He’s wearing sweats and curiously holding a vase full of what looks like water.

“Sugawara Koushi is.” Ushijima supplies and Iwaizumi’s expression changes into one of understanding.

“Oh yes, that’s right.”

“What’s that for, Iwaizumi?” Asahi eyes the vase.

Iwaizumi scowls at the water. “Nothing. It’s seawater. I caught Tendou funneling it inside water balloons he’s apparently selling to those prankster faerie first years.”

From the staircase comes the sound of running footsteps and an indignant shout.

“ _That’s not true!!_ ”

“Despicable,” Iwaizumi supplies and they see Tendou stop tentatively at the top of the staircase.

“Oikawa threw one of those on me here that one time,” Ushijima confesses conversationally and all eyes land on him both baffled and troubled.  _That one time._ Daichi almost makes a face.

“S-So…who’s this Oikawa?” Daichi asks instead.

Iwaizumi raises an eyebrow. “My boyfriend.”

“ _Your boyfriend!_ ” Daichi squeaks, shooting up from his seat. “So you’d know where he is and he’d know where Suga is right?”

“Is that what this is about?” Iwaizumi sounds incredulous.

Daichi shows him the plastic bag.

“I have to return this to him,” he says.

“They’re in the dorm on the next street—”

“Excellent. Come with me.”

“Wh—”

Iwaizumi steps forward in confusion at the same time Daichi steps towards him and they almost end up crashing against each other. In a split-second attempt to avoid colliding, Iwaizumi veers towards Ushijima and ultimately spills a good amount of water from the vase right onto his legs.

They all freeze and Ushijima looks surprised by the sudden cold splash. There’s a ripping noise—Ushijima’s pants, unfortunately—and Asahi yelps as he pulls the table towards him to prevent it from being knocked away by Ushijima’s tail.

His tail knocks the couch opposite him, however, overturning it. It’s an immediate transformation, a blink of an eye you see legs the next moment there’s a huge tail occupying the lounge space, and it’s quite a shock to see it before your eyes even though you’re expecting it.

Ushijima’s tail is rather different from Sugawara’s. It’s a striped burgundy, as large as Ushijima is tall. He doesn’t have elbow fins but his femoral fins are flashy enough—long elongated, fan-like fins up to the caudal fin, not unlike a lionfish.

“I-I’m sorr—” Iwaizumi stammers as he regards Ushijima’s current predicament.

From the top of the staircase, they hear an outburst of boisterous laughter from Tendou. No shame.

Ushijima, meanwhile, takes it all gracefully. He waves a hand away as he seats himself in a better position, even folding his longer fins underneath him.

“It’s fine,” he says. “I didn’t dodge in time.”

The guilt almost eats away Iwaizumi’s heart.

“I’ll live, it happens.” Ushijima insists with an assuring tone. “Sawamura, will you right that couch over there? Thank you.”

They all move with an apologetic air; Asahi returns the table back in place and Daichi rights the couch back up. Ushijima has gone back to reading like nothing happened and Tendou has blissfully shut up.

Iwaizumi exhales, suddenly exhausted and he sets down the half-full vase of seawater on the table.

“Let’s go see Oikawa,” he tells Daichi.

 

The dorm isn’t a very far walk and when Iwaizumi steps in, Daichi following closely behind, he’s immediately recognized by the girl at the front desk, obviously frequenting here.

“Hey, Yachi,” Iwaizumi greets her with a smile. “We’re just visiting.”

Yachi returns the smile at them both brightly. She’s rather tiny in height and her blonde hair seems to be glowing softly. Daichi takes the hint when he spots her pointed ears and the flowering tattoos all over her arms and hands that keeps blooming and closing as she moves.

 _Faerie_ , Daichi recognizes.

“To Oikawa-san’s room, that’s right?” Yachi asks and Iwaizumi nods.

Yachi takes out a logbook and slides it over to Daichi.

“Please sign under visitors, please!” she points at a space and a daisy blooms on her index finger.

Daichi quickly signs their names and they’re good to go.

Oikawa’s room is on the fourth floor and when they’re walking towards his room number, Iwaizumi says, “I have to tell you something about Oikawa though,”

Daichi looks at him, puzzled. “Eh?”

Iwaizumi eyes him, deadpans, “He’s a faerie.”

“He’s _what_ ,”

“Uhuh.”

They reach room 414 and Daichi doesn’t get the chance to inquire some more because Iwaizumi’s already pressing the doorbell.

“One more thing,” Iwaizumi adds and Daichi almost incorporates Asahi’s constant anxiety just hearing Iwaizumi’s tone of voice.

“Yeah?”

They hear footsteps padding at the other side of the door and a high-lilt voice calling, “Coming~!”

Iwaizumi looks at Daichi, smirking. “He’s roommates with Suga.”

Daichi chokes on his own spit as the door opens.

“Who is i—ah! _Iwa-chan!_ ”

Someone tall and brown-haired greets them at the door, fluttering his eyelashes at Iwaizumi. There are little green things sticking out from his hair looking slightly like antennae until Daichi realizes those are leaves.

“Oikawa,” Iwaizumi says, sounding grave.

Oikawa flashes him a bright smile, not seemingly seeing Daichi just yet.

“Iwa-chan, are you wearing sweats? So very risqué.”

Iwaizumi ignores him. “Did you throw a water balloon filled with seawater on Ushijima’s face the other week?”

Oikawa smiles at him innocently, pausing momentarily before he breaks his gaze and looks at Daichi.

“Oh, who’s this?” His voice drips with honey.

“Don’t ignore me!” Iwaizumi kicks him on the shin and Oikawa squeaks, a few leaves wilting out of his hair.

“Iwa-chan, this accusation…,”

Daichi swallows. This is Sugawara’s roommate. _Sugawara lives here._ They’re literally only separated by a brick wall and two lovers at the moment and Daichi spaces out for a good five seconds and comes back to earth to Iwaizumi and Oikawa in full-blown bickering.

“It’s a rude thing to do, Oikawa! It takes them an hour to get their legs back!”  Iwaizumi is saying passionately.

Oikawa huffs. “You’d want to try punting one at Ushiwaka-chan too you know,”

“I kind of already have…” Iwaizumi deadpans, horrified with himself.

“Here we have Iwa-chan hiding the facts…”

“It was an _accident!_ ” Iwaizumi looks like he wants to kick him again.

“Er,” Daichi clears his throat and Oikawa eyes him once more. His stare is so intense he might as well be stripping Daichi of everything malicious.

“Is Suga around?” Daichi inquires anyway.

Oikawa raises his eyebrows. “Suga-chan…?”

There’s a new set of footsteps from inside and Daichi straightens attentively.

“Oikawa? Who’s that at the door?” comes a smooth voice.

Oikawa twists around just a bit, pushing the door open wider and Daichi immediately sees the halo of gray hair.

“Oh, it’s just—” Oikawa starts just as their eyes meet.

Daichi sees the hazel eyes widen in recognition and he smiles back at them with an eager shyness.

“Daichi!” Sugawara exclaims, practically leaping for the door and pushing Oikawa to the side, beaming wide as he leans out towards him.

“Hi!” His smile reaches his eyes.

Now with him like this, Daichi can see the startling difference from when Sugawara had a tail; he’s shorter than Daichi. It’s a little satisfying.

“Daichi?” Oikawa echoes, tapping a finger against his chin, suddenly thoughtful. Then he snaps his fingers, eyes brightening as he recalls. “Could you be Prince Eric?”

There’s a short pause as they all stare at him in bewilderment.

“Prince _what?_ ” Iwaizumi and Daichi say in unison though Daichi sounds like he’s choking again.

“You know like in the Little Mermaid, Prince Eric saves Ariel’s ass on the beach—” Oikawa explains until Sugawara pokes him bodily on the side, smiling the entire time as Oikawa yelps into silence.

“Why don’t you come inside?” Sugawara offers sweetly.

Daichi watches Oikawa latch himself onto Iwaizumi’s arm despite being a good few inches taller than him, moaning about how evil Sugawara is. He takes in Iwaizumi’s exasperated expression.

Daichi nods. “Yeah, sure.”

 

Which is how Daichi finds himself alone with Sugawara in their living room, Sugawara fussing over him excessively—patting down the couch pillows, arranging the things on the table like the president is coming over.

Daichi chuckles at some point.

“It’s okay, it’s just me.” He tells him.

Sugawara shakes his head at him in disbelief.

“Are you kidding?” he sits down next to him. “ _Just?_ Absolutely not.”

Daichi smiles crookedly. “But it’s true. Ah, that’s right, this is yours,” he hands him his shirt. “I fixed your shirt. You forgot it in the lab. I didn’t really know where else to find you so I could return it.”

Sugawara stares at the shirt in his hands with great sincerity and hugs it to his chest, emotional.

“‘Just me’?” he repeats Daichi’s words and he almost sounds incredulous. “ _Absolutely not!_ Thank you, Daichi, really.” He sniffs.

“Hey now! It’s okay, glad I could help.” Daichi grins.

Sugawara studies him for a moment. “You’re taller than me,” he says and it makes Daichi snort.

“You noticed.” Daichi replies smugly.

Sugawara makes a face. “That’s fair,” Daichi’s smugness doesn’t fade. Sugawara gasps suddenly, making Daichi jump and he has a bright smile on his face once more. “I have your clothes too! The ones you made me borrow? Hold on—”

And off he goes, dashing to his room in a second. His side momentarily empty, Daichi can only hear the muffled voices of Iwaizumi and Oikawa in the kitchen. They seem to be in a heated debate about something though they don’t really sound like they’re arguing.

It doesn’t take Sugawara long and when he gets back, he presents the clothes he borrowed to Daichi with a flourish. It’s neatly folded and smelling of jasmines.

“Thanks. Now we’re even,” Daichi says and Sugawara sits by him again, cheeks hot from anything but heat.

“Oh, please. Would you like some tea?”

“I’m good thanks. Either way, Iwaizumi and Oikawa are in the kitchen. Best not…”

“You’re right,” Sugawara says a little too quickly and Daichi stifles a laugh. “H-How’d your report go, then?”

Daichi laughs this time. “I made it in time, can you believe?” Just barely. Exactly three minutes before the deadline. Cramming does wonders to a human, but he’s not about to admit that.

“I’m sure the fishes think you’re definitely cooler now.”

Daichi’s trying to prove to himself he’s not about to get flustered by that remark.

“That would be an interesting take of things,” he says and then softly, “how did you do back then?”

Sugawara looks sheepish. “I had Oikawa help me and Yaku out. Oikawa’s a faerie you know, though he’s one of the good ones. At least most of the time.” Sugawara points at his hair, pertaining to Oikawa.

“I did see his hair,” Daichi says.

Sugawara nods, grinning so much his eyes crinkle and Daichi feels like he’s been punched in the gut.

“Flowers bloom in his hair when he’s happy!” Sugawara tells him.

Daichi chuckles, leaning towards him reflexively.

“What about you when you’re happy?”

Sugawara’s eyes train on him, a clear hazel like seeing sand through the water.

“Oh,” Sugawara says, smiling. “you’re seeing it now.”

 

+

 

“Hello, Prince Eric! Over here!”

The ridiculous nickname makes Daichi whip his head around and he knows full well whose honeyed voice it belongs to. Beside Daichi, Ushijima hums to himself in observation.

Daichi peers around the grassy campus grounds until he spots Oikawa _and_ Sugawara at a shaded bench. Oikawa is waving at him animatedly. There’s a big sunflower on the side of his head, looking almost comical. To his right is Sugawara, smiling to himself politely though it reaches his eyes when he sees Daichi who waves back at them.

When Daichi and Ushijima make their way towards them however, Oikawa gasps so emotionally when he sees Daichi’s companion that his sunflower actually droops.

“Oikawa Tooru,” Ushijima announces before Oikawa can say anything.

Oikawa’s expression turns sour and he actually snubs him. Ushijima doesn’t seem to mind this because he moves on to Sugawara with a curt call of his name too.

“Hello, Ushijima,” Sugawara says warmly and with a sly lilt, “Daichi,”

“Hey,” Daichi says. “are you on a break?”

Sugawara nods. “That’s right. Our next class is Ethics and we’re thinking about skipping.”

“Now, now when _I_ skipped I had a good reason,”

“A shitty professor is a good enough reason, right Oikawa?”

Oikawa isn’t listening to him though. He has his arms crossed over his chest staring venomously at Ushijima who hasn’t done anything else in the past ten minutes except standing there.

“Prince Eric, you should consider your choice of friends,” Oikawa tells Daichi.

Daichi blinks. “What?”

“Ones that won’t _push you off the fishing dock when you’re looking at the water._ ”

Ushijima sighs. “That was four years ago. It was an accident. I told you it was Tendou.”

“Same thing.” Oikawa tosses back his hair. “You know land faeries cannot swim.”

Sugawara purses his lips in fits of laughter, mouthing _he’s very dramatic_ to Daichi who snorts.

“It’s a good thing Iwa-chan was there I could’ve _died_ ,” Oikawa emphasizes.

“It wasn’t even that deep—”

“ _Could’ve died_.”

Sugawara is giggling behind his hand now and it’s a very interesting thing to see that Daichi is now pretty amused to Oikawa’s dramatics. He wonders briefly how stern, no-nonsense Iwaizumi puts up with him on most days.

“Anyway,” Ushijima says, seemingly unbothered. He takes out a notebook from his bag and passes it to Oikawa who looks at it in a start. “You’ll see Iwaizumi sometime later, I’m sure. Please give his notebook to him. He left it in the kitchen this morning and he probably needs it.”

Oikawa takes the notebook pinched between his thumb and index finger.

“Why do you have Iwa-chan’s notebook?” Oikawa hisses softly. Interestingly, his sunflower turns red.

Ushijima looks positively baffled.

“We are roommates…?”

Oikawa makes another hissy noise and Ushijima blinks slowly until he gets the situation.

“Ah,” he says. “you should’ve come to our dormitory then—”

Oikawa looks just about ready to throw another water balloon.

Sugawara suddenly stands.

“Okay!”  He says brightly, clapping his hands once. “That was enlightening wasn’t it?” He winks at Daichi meaningfully, tilting his head to the side and motioning to flee. “I just remembered I had to do something at the library after all,” Sugawara  continues.

Daichi clears his throat loudly. “Yeah, actually you know what, Suga, I do have something to do there too!”

Sugawara is out of his seat at once, walking over and starts pulling Daichi by the arm, maintaining his happy façade as Oikawa looks at them in disbelief.

“Is that so? What a coincidence!” Sugawara exclaims, voice high and laughter in his tone. “We’ll be leaving now then! Have a nice conversation now! Don’t fight~!”

Oikawa watches, crestfallen as Sugawara tows Daichi away. Sugawara’s obviously laughing, Daichi looking at him all smitten.

Ushijima tilts his head. “The library is this way though.” He points to the other side right at the west building.

 _Of course it is,_ Oikawa thinks morosely before plucking the sunflower out of his hair.

 

Sugawara is still laughing so close beside him, arm around his and Daichi’s heart is doing extra work to cope with this.

“They always end up like that!” Sugawara says in breaks of hilarity. “Oikawa can keep grudges for a _long_ time. He’s petty like that.”

Daichi laughs. “Well, that’s his trait.”

“That’s right. He’s a good person though he just doesn’t know how to show it well.”

“Yeah, okay so he’s not really skipping classes with you, is he?”

Sugawara holds a finger up in mock seriousness.

“Now, now, skipping once in a while is normal.”

“ _Suga,_ ”

“And it’s really _easy_ to skip this class,”

“This is not how you face school.”

“Seriously, it is—” Sugawara stops walking and he stares at Daichi with narrowed eyes, thoughtful though he doesn’t let go of him. “Wait a minute, the library is in the other way.”

Daichi raises his eyebrows as this slowly dawns into him and barely gets a reaction out before Sugawara is already hooting in laughter.

“Daichi, you didn’t even notice!” Sugawara says.

Daichi pokes him on the side. “Hold on, you were dragging me away!”

Sugawara grins. “It felt nice.”

Heat floods Daichi’s face and from where Sugawara is holding him. _It felt nice. God here we go._

“You’re a bit of a menace you know that?” Daichi tells him.

Sugawara grins deviously. “Just a bit? You’re being modest, Daichi—wait, hold on” Sugawara peers past Daichi, laughter slowly disappearing and suddenly alarmed. “I think I know those three.”

Daichi looks around, intrigued and spies three students huddled close together by a tree nearest to them. They seem to be watching Sugawara, holding what looks like a bucket and Daichi gets an odd feeling.

“Suga, I think those people are—”

Daichi hears hoots of laughter and a brief yell of “ _Incoming!_ ” and then there are a handful of multicolored circular-shaped objects hurtling their way. He gets barely a second to process everything, realizing what’s happening then and he pushes a horrified looking Sugawara out of the way before he gets pelted by the water balloons.

It hits Daichi instead—right smack on his head, splashing him with water as four more balloons bursts onindiscriminate parts of him. He’s immediately drenched and he can feel the water seeping in uncomfortably cold into his pants as he stands there basically frozen with the same horror that’s written on Sugawara’s face at the moment.

Thankfully, he’s pushed Sugawara out to a considerable distance and no drop has landed on him.

Daichi hears brief gasps from the perpetrators and he whirls at them, frowning and unsure whether he should let his ego reign and be mad or just walk it off. Either way, the pranksters look vaguely terrified with their mistake. One of them, whose faerie characteristics are apparent with his color-changing hair, blanches.

“Thanks a lot,” Daichi tells them sardonically, pushing back his hair and wringing his shirt.

That one faerie’s hair turns black while one stutters out a, “I-It wasn’t for y—”

“ _Daichi!_ ”

Sugawara sounds so appalled that Daichi’s attention spins back towards him and almost panics when he sees Sugawara about to move closer.

“Wait, no stay there!” Daichi says, holding his hands out to him, pointing at the puddle in the ground. “I’m fine, it’s okay. No big deal.”

Sugawara’s forehead is scrunched in worry and he’s fiddling with his hands in anxiousness.

“But you…,” he looks him over, voice quiet and then sends a glare towards the faerie group who hasn’t made a wise decision to run away. “ _You_ ,” Sugawara utters coldly, eyes narrowing. He makes a step towards them and Daichi holds out a hand in alarm.

“Hey, _hey_ , it’s fine let it go—”

Sugawara inhales sharply, livid. “Let it go?! Look what they did to you how could I just let it—HEY!”

The faeries make a run for it, mumbling hurried, garbled apologies for the merman’s benefit and it only adds up to Sugawara’s fuming.

“Hey, come back here!” Sugawara yells after them much to Daichi’s distress.

“Don’t need to tell me twice,” says a voice that’s too sweet to be genuine.

Oikawa has appeared again and he waves his hand lazily. Instantaneously, earth-colored vines shoot out of the ground. Daichi watches in horror, Sugawara in glee as Oikawa’s vines reach out to the faeries, tripping them and simultaneously wrapping around their ankles, dragging them back.

Oikawa is smiling wide, almost malevolently, until Iwaizumi, who happens to be beside him, pinches his arm and Oikawa jumps in a start, cutting off his concentration which makes him grimace.

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa complains and Iwaizumi rolls his eyes.

“Oikawa, it’s okay, let them go,” Daichi says, sighing.

“Oikawa!” Sugawara sounds like he’s just been given an A+ in his worst subjects.

Oikawa is still making a grouchy expression.

“I ran after you, you know, because you were practically eloping and then I saw Iwa-chan over here who happened to see the entire thing as well, these three miscreants—”—Oikawa sends them a brief, piercing glare—“—so that’s the story.”

“Okay. Let them go now.” Daichi says, wiping his hands on his wet pants and considers taking his shirt off right there in public.

Sugawara stomps his foot indignantly.

“Not until they apologize to you!”

Oikawa raises an eyebrow importantly at Daichi.

“Well, you heard him.”

“Get it over with,” Iwaizumi cuts in, now impatient.

They watch as Oikawa crouches down in front of his first year captives, the three of them looking terrified of Oikawa’s almost threatening smile.

Iwaizumi shakes his head stepping towards Daichi and retrieves Daichi’s bag that’s now sitting on a puddle.

“Sorry, he’s that persuasive,” Iwaizumi says. “Sugawara don’t step too close to Daichi for the meantime alright?”

Daichi thinks he sees Sugawara pout pronouncedly but perhaps he imagined it.

“Okay, First Year-chan,” Oikawa says sweetly. “how about starting your repentance by stopping this  awful business of yours, eh?”

“W-We just thought it was a tradition,” the one with the odd colored hair speaks first with a tremble in his voice.

Sugawara definitely pouts this time.

Another one with small stumps for antlers says, “We just thought it was a given.”

Oikawa laughs sarcastically. “A _given!_ What makes you think you’re entitled to another person’s inconveniences? Does it matter that you thrive on land and they don’t? Don’t get so cocky just because you have something others don’t.”

Oikawa’s voice is still in that high, false tone, chiding with underlying threats and dandelions start blooming in his hair as he speaks.

Iwaizumi smiles to himself, feeling smug despite himself and Daichi finds himself in thought.

_He is nice just not how you’d expect it._

“Do you get it?” Oikawa prompts and the first years flinch at his voice.

“Y-Yes, _senpai_.”

“Good,” Oikawa flicks a finger and the vines disintegrate back to earth. “If I hear you messing with the merfolk again you’ll hear from me~”

They waste no time making a run for it.

Oikawa hums to himself in satisfaction before he straightens up, smiling proudly.

“Right, that’s done,” he says, winking at Iwaizumi and grinning at Daichi and Sugawara. “Let’s get back to you.”

 

+

 

“Daichi, I’m sorry.”

Daichi whirls around, half-inside the shirt he’s changing into. Sugawara isn’t looking at him though, focusing his attention instead on the fish tank right next to him.

Daichi tilts his head. This isn’t new; he’s been apologizing every five minutes since they’ve stepped into the Biology lab that’s thankfully empty when they did.

Iwaizumi and Oikawa dropped them off here so Daichi could change and Sugawara insisted to stay, immediately wasting no time to start off with his litany of unnecessary apologies.

“What for?” Daichi asks, for what seems to be the tenth time though this time, Sugawara finally replies with more than a grumble.

“This wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for me,” he mumbles, shuffling his feet.

Daichi snorts and fixes his shirt before he walks over to him, dragging a stool with him to sit beside Sugawara.

“That’s really not how I see it,” Daichi says.

“Where is your better judgment?”

Daichi laughs. “Why would I be angry though? You were very ready to kill someone out there.”

Sugawara blushes faintly, scoffing. He eyes the fish spitting bubbles inside the tank before it swims away.

“I think that one was judging you,” Sugawara points out.

Daichi smiles crookedly. “That’s unfortunate. I did try my best.”

Sugawara still isn’t buying it, now looking down on his hands sadly.

 _Uh-oh,_ Daichi thinks. He thinks fast, reaching around the tank and grabs the measured fish feed for the blue tangs.

“Here,” Daichi says, handing it to Sugawara and motioning to the tank next to them and hoping it’ll cheer him up. “I was going to feed them but you can probably do it better.”

Sugawara takes it gamely, standing up.

“Of course I can!”  Sugawara takes a bit of the feed in his hand and sprinkles it inside the tank. “Fellow fishfolk don’t you think Daichi was being foolish?”

“Hey now,”

“Aha! They agree!”

Daichi snickers but he smiles nevertheless as Sugawara continues mumbling at the fish who are probably too busy eating to figure out what Sugawara is saying.

“It was something minor,” Daichi says, softly. “you would’ve been in greater inconvenience if  I hadn’t pushed you away. I’m glad it was me instead.”

Sugawara stops mumbling and when Daichi looks up at him, their gazes meet and Sugawara’s eyes smile.

“You really are Prince Eric,” Sugawara says affectionately and Daichi’s heart sings.

 

+

 

His heart keeps singing, unbelievably even as weeks pass and the singing only becomes louder like merfolk song out at sea and Daichi can’t really do anything about it really.

“Daichi!”

And there it goes. His line of thinking instantly drops when he hears Sugawara’s voice calling out to him and he’s ready to drop whatever it is he may be holding. He feels slightly abashed when he whirls to Sugawara in an instant.

“Yeah?” Smooth.

Sugawara is grinning. “Are you free?”

Daichi’s schedule flashes in his head and mentally kisses the people responsible for aligning his afternoon schedule free as per usual.

“Sure, yeah,” Daichi says.

Sugawara narrows his eyes suspiciously.

“No homework?”

“I’ve learned my lesson, you know.”

Sugawara laughs and Daichi’s palms sweat.

“Okay,” Sugawara believes. “will you go to the dock with me?”

Daichi blinks. “The dock.”

“Yep,” Sugawara laughs. “I have to do a visual essay and the dock is the most stimulating place to do some painting, don’t you think?”

Daichi grins.

“For a merman anyway,” Sugawara adds as an afterthought.

“Count me in.” Daichi doesn’t even think about it.

 

Of course Daichi isn’t quite prepared for more heart-singing as he watches Sugawara prancing around the fishing dock carefully, trying to find a place where he can paint, as the horizon turns orange.

“I haven’t been out here in a while,” Sugawara says, voice more expressive than usual from the excitement. He has a medium-sized canvas with him, a small bag too for his brushes and paint.

“I haven’t really been here, period.” Daichi admits.

“That is so sad, Daichi.”

“Regrettably.”

They hear voices nearby and see someone at the side of the dock where there are a few fishing boats anchored, sitting on the edge as they talk to someone in the water. They’re also painting—instructing someone too, apparently.

“…over there, Issei. No, no closer to the boat. The _boat_ , Issei, for chrissake.”

There’s an answer of teasing laughter and a splash.

Sugawara goes on right ahead. “Hello, Hanamaki!” He waves at him, surprising Daichi once more with his connections.

Hanamaki turns, scowling a little and armed with a paintbrush as he clutches his canvas, though his scowl disappears when he sees Sugawara.

He waves the paintbrush in his hand.

“Hello, Suga!” Hanamaki greets. “Are you painting here too?”

“Yes,” Sugawara grins. He stands next to Daichi and gestures at both of them in introduction. “Daichi, this is Hanamaki. He’s in the same major as me. Hanamaki this is Daichi, my—” Sugawara stops, eyeing Daichi briefly who in turn looks bewildered.

Sugawara beams, looking at Hanamaki once more.

“He’s my Prince Eric!” Sugawara proudly declares and Daichi chokes.

“ _Suga._ ”

Hanamaki doesn’t seem to find this odd, shrugging with nonchalance.

“Whatever that means,” he says. “nice to meet you. I’m Makki and this is my…squid.” He points to the water and for the first time Daichi sees someone else there the entire time.

It’s a merman—or at least _one_ of the merfolk, Daichi decides when he thinks he sees tentacles—with messy, dark hair and thick eyebrows. He looks at Hanamaki, feigning offense and floats away from an anchored boat.

“For your information, squid and jellyfish are not in the same family.”

“Whatever, Ursula. Didn’t I tell you to get closer to that boat?”

“What kind of artist orders their dashing model around?”

“I’m no artist this is for a _visual essay_ , dipshit.”

They continue to bicker though it’s mostly of sarcasm and lighthearted air. At one point the merman throws up a little heart with a thin, almost transparent tentacle.

Sugawara laughs softly. “That’s Matsukawa. They’re usually like this but Oikawa assures they’re still going strong. We have to stay further away though since he can sting when he wants to.”

Stings. Jellyfish. Right.

The move along and they hear Hanamaki bid his goodbye. Matsukawa too, waving at them lazily with a tentacle as he leans on a boat.

 

Sugawara and Daichi settle at the very edge of the dock where they’re the only ones around and all they can hear is the soft splashing of the waves hitting the dock. Daichi watches wordlessly as Sugawara prepares his materials, taking out a few of his paint and propping his canvas against his bag.

“So,” Daichi finally says. “what do you need me for?”

“Ah,” Sugawara says. “you’re my company. Oh, and you’re also in charge of watching over my pants.”

“Your _what?_ ”

“My pants, Daichi, my pants.”

Daichi gapes. “Wha—”

Sugawara scoots closer to him, sitting down beside Daichi, his feet alarmingly close to the water.

“ _Suga your feet—_ ”

“It’s fine! It’s fine! It’s part of my essay,”

“ _What_ are you going to do for your essay anyway?”

Sugawara flourishes a hand towards the sea.

“Introducing Ariel!” He announces excitedly.

“Ah, you’re really loving the Little Mermaid, huh,”

“Definitely. Now close your eyes and don’t peek I’m taking off my pants.”

Daichi’s face colors, heart launching forward but he shuts his eyes and lets Sugawara do his meticulous process of removing his clothing.

“No peeking,” Sugawara reminds.

“I’m not!”

“You know you want to~”

“Suga.”

Daichi hears a laugh, directly followed by a quick splash and when he opens his eyes again, Sugawara is nowhere to be seen although his clothing is neatly folded beside him.

“Suga…?” Daichi tries.

He thinks he hears a splash and laughter once more and—“Bah!”

Daichi jumps when Sugawara suddenly surfaces, laughing delightedly. His gray hair is darker now that it’s wet and his eyes seem darker too though it doesn’t change the fact he’s still charming.

_Oh god._

Daichi purses his lips.

Sugawara bobs along imperturbably and he points at the sunset.

“Isn’t it pretty?” He says.

But Daichi is looking at him when he goes, “Yeah.”

Sugawara looks pleased and he swims closer back to the dock. Daichi can’t see his tail but can see the ripples around the water as he moves and Sugawara hoists himself up on his elbows, resting on the edge.

Daichi raises an eyebrow.

“Can you breathe under there?”

Sugawara flashes him a secretive smile as he reaches for his paintbrush and blue paint.

“Oh yes. Kind of like drinking water but not.”

“Very enlightening.”

“Of course it is,” Sugawara laughs, poking Daichi’s knee with his paintbrush.

A smile is playing permanently on Daichi’s face.

“Need help with that?” He asks.

Sugawara scoffs. “Please. Ariel has got it all.”

Daichi whistles, smiling crookedly.

“All that from a short amount of time?”

Suddenly Sugawara is quiet when he says, “Yeah,” and he looks at him with the same awed expression that Daichi can’t place why the moment warrants it. “I got you to sit there, didn’t I?”

Singing. _My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold—_

Daichi exhales and almost mechanically, he takes off his shirt and proceeds to jump into the water and all he hears next is the garbled cry of his name from Sugawara.

“Daichi!” Sugawara yells, abandoning his canvas and he immediately dives under, the silence of the water immediately envelops him and he breathes in the slightly uncomfortable feeling of taking in water in replacement for air.

He opens his eyes, his vision adjusting immediately and he sees Daichi floating underwater with relative ease, smiling even.

Sugawara’s stream of complaints come in the form of a stream of bubbles as he surges forward towards him, just to make sure Daichi’s fine and he grabs his arm, swishing his tail once for them to go up and break the surface.

Daichi gasps the moment his head hits the surface but then immediately bursts into laughter meanwhile Sugawara looks on at him making sounds of frustration.

“Daichi!” He says with emotion, pushing his hair out of his face.

Daichi’s laughter ceases though his smile doesn’t fade.

“Sorry, sorry I was just cooling off.”

“ _Cooling off_.”

“Yeah,” Daichi says breathlessly. Sugawara hasn’t let him go and his tail is half-wrapped around his legs almost protectively. “I was trying to clear my head.”

Sugawara looks dumbfounded, his hazel eyes wide, pink lips slightly agape. In the shadow of the setting sun, everything of him is warm, hitting Daichi right on the chest once he finds the word for it.

“Clearing your head?” Sugawara repeats. He scoffs in disbelief, expression softening and after a moment, he reaches out a hand and smoothes back Daichi’s hair gently.

“Clearing your head,” Sugawara says once more, laughing softly. “Whatever am I going to do with you?”

Daichi’s hand catches his.

“I like you.”

He watches things unfold in front of him like a flipcard—Sugawara’s hand twitching but not prying away, the slow widening of his eyes, the rising of his fair eyebrows, his soft, sharp inhale.

The gentle hush of the waves seem louder than before.

Hushed, Daichi’s laughter sounds a bit winded.

“Is that okay to say?” He says aloud, rhetorical but he gets an immediate answer.

Sugawara pulls Daichi against him, a smile breaking in his face as he leans up and meets him halfway. Their kiss meets and hands follow when Sugawara’s own moves to the curve of Daichi’s neck and he’s glad for the warmth, glad for each smile he feels against his own, glad for the surprised sound Daichi makes, glad he’s the reason behind it.

You can’t capture moments like these on canvas.

They remain close when they break apart, foreheads touching.

“Is that okay?” Sugawara throws back at him and Daichi chuckles.

“It’s better,” Daichi says. “Didn’t you have something else to do?”

“It’s fine,” Sugawara’s smile is sly, leaning in for more. “I can picture it clearly now.”

**Author's Note:**

> did i just project the subjects i have for this semester in this fic u never know (i did)
> 
> > suga's tail is inspired from the fins of a Feather-tailed Betta fish bc it looks very fancy and he's exactly that  
> > pacific blue tang fish = dory  
> > ushijima is fond of calling you by full name i noticed. also save him from oikawa.  
> > MATTSUN IS A JELLY  
> > _My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold—_ (My Jolly Sailor Bold, Pirates of the Caribbean)
> 
> [stumbles out of here]
> 
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